The Lost Heroine
by Dreamgirl32
Summary: AU where Reyne and Annabeth are switched instead of Jaosn and Percy. Changes will differ from chapter to chapter. Rating will change as more mature context is introduced


**Before we get started, I'd like to say a few things. Firstly, you will notice that there are a lot of direct quotes from the book. I've read several versions of this story before and frankly the lack of direct quotes always frustrated me. It felt like I was expected to only read every OTHER word in Jane Eyre. I'm also making an effort to keep this story line as similar to the canon as I can because the point of this story is to highlight how amazing Reyna's character is my showcasing her doing all the badassery we don't get enough of in the books. I have also incorporated my own imaginings of Reyna's full backstory. I'm sure when BoO comes out we'll get a more detailed version but until then I'm using what I've got to work with. In any case, I feel I've changed enough of the text to consider this at least partially my work. I understand people may see this as plagiarism. Especially with the less edited chapters that will come later. I have already attempted to post this story once before and it was taken down for that reason. I understand. But I'd like to simply spell out my argument before you read. If you are dissatified please send me a review so I can get a feel for when I may be overstepping my reach. If enough people tell me it's too much I'll take the story down, simple as that. Also if anyone does have any issue with the changes I have made you are more then welcome to tell me about it in a review and I'll message you (assuming you're signed in when you post it.) explaining why I felt that change was necessary and we can debate it if you like. I am more then willing to be flexible with this story. But I do ask you give it a chance first. So, without further ado...**

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**E****VEN BEFORE SHE FELL DOWN THE GRAND CANYON,** Reyna was having a rotten day.

She woke in the backseat of a school bus, not sure where she was, sitting next to a girl she didn't know. That wasn't necessarily the rotten part, it was that but he couldn't figure out who she was or what he was doing there. She sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.

A few dozen kids sprawled in the seats in front of her, listening to iPods, talking, or sleeping. They all looked around her age … fifteen? Sixteen? Okay, that's really not good. She didn't know his own age.

The bus rumbled along a bumpy road. Out the windows, desert rolled by under a bright blue sky. Reyna was pretty sure she didn't live in the desert. She tried to think back … the last thing she remembered …

The girl next to her punched her shoulder to get her attention. "Reyna, you okay?"

She wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't work. She was seriously pretty. Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, and green.

Reyna gritted her teeth. Her breath hitched. She didn't know this girl; she didn't know how to act towards her. She knew she should to avoid drawing attention to herself that would only lead to trouble. Problem was, it's impossible to tell what's out of character for you if you don't have any idea who you are.

"Um," she mumbled, then the bus hit a pothole and she got an idea. She put her fingers to her temples and winced "Fine. Just a—Just a headache. Don't worry about it."

The girl didn't look convinced. But before she could say anything a teacher shouted In the front of the bus, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"

The guy was obviously a coach. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Reyna, and his scowl deepened.

A jolt went down Reyna's spine. She felt her breath quicken dangerously. She was sure the coach knew she didn't belong there. He was going to call Reyna out, demand to know what he was doing on the bus—and Reyna wouldn't have a clue what to say. There wasn't time to work out a plan. She cursed mentally.

But Coach Hedge looked away and cleared his throat. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.

Reyna blinked. Why hadn't the coach called her out? That didn't make any sense.

_'Calm down.' _She thought, _'Let's take this one problem at a time. For now, let's focus on where we're going and who these people are. God I hope I don't end up like Wolverine.'_

That last thought surprised her. She laughed to herself. That caught the attention of the girl sitting next to her, who smiled and asked "What so funny?"

Reyna laughed again, not sure why. "Nothing. Just, uh, real charmer isn't he?" she said gesturing Coach Hedge up front, who was chewing out some kid for playing music too loud.

The girl shrugged. "Oh, yeah. What can you expect though? This is the Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals.'"

She said it like it was a joke they'd shared before.

"Animals?" Reyna repeated, for some reason that bothered her. She sighed "I just don't understand why I'm here."

The boy in front of him turned and laughed. "Yeah, right, Reyna. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal a BMW."

The girl blushed. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his eyebrows at Reyna like, _Can you believe her?_

Leo looked like a cute Latino Santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. His long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving—drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket. Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.

"Anyway," Leo said, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"

"N-nothing," Reyna said.

Piper gave her a crocodile grin. "What? Can't get enough of your boyfriend face, can you?"

Reyna felt her face burn. Her stomach lurched. For some reason the idea of a boyfriend really didn't sit well with her "Wh-What!?"

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at Reyna. Though his face was very red as well, and his dark pigmentation did little to hide it. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"

Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!"

The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"

Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"

Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."

"Guys, seriously," Reyna pleaded. She'd had enough of laying low, after that last surprise she decided she'd rather hear what she could now. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"

Piper knit her eyebrows. "Reyna, are you joking?"

"No! I have no idea—"

"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"

Reyna stared at him blankly.

"No, I think she's serious." Piper tried to reach out but Reyna backed up against the window.

"I-I'm sorry." She said "I don't—I can't—"

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

The rest of the kids cheered.

"There's a shocker," Leo muttered and turned back around.

But Piper kept her eyes on Reyna, like she couldn't decide whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

Reyna looked at her helplessly and sighed. "It's worse than that. I don't know who _I_ am."

The bus dropped them in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that's what it was: the National Museum of Nowhere, Reyna thought. A cold wind blew across the desert. Reyna hadn't paid much attention to what he was wearing, but it wasn't nearly warm enough: dark skinny jeans, a purple tank top, tall black leather boots, and a too-thin red jacket. Her hair was in a long, glossy black braid over her shoulder. Around her neck was some sort of arrowhead on a gold chain.

She had an over-the-shoulder bag on. Reyna tore threw it, looking for some clues to who she was but found nothing useful. She frowned down at the arrowhead like it was somehow personally responsible for her memory loss. She gripped the jacket and pulled it tight to her body, shivering. She knew one thing, she hated the cold.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Reyna think this was not going to be helpful. "We go to the 'Wilderness School'"—Leo made air quotes with his fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, 'boarding school'—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

"No." Reyna said irritated. She glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, but it bothered her how well she associated herself with people like this. Wild, out of control, and probably violent, but normal enough looking to pass for normal.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the three of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—"

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we _are_ friends."

Piper flashed that crocodile grin again and raised a mischievous eyebrow "Well, Leo's a little more then your friend." She said with a bit too much emphasis on 'more' Reyna felt her stomach lurch again "These last few weeks you two—"

"Piper cut it out!" Leo's snapped turning red. Reyna could feel her face burning too. She thought she'd remember if she'd been going out with a guy like Leo.

Reyna shut her eyes and tried to focus on what she knew so far. Leo must be pretty sneaky and stealthy considering the prank he pulled with the megaphone. Coach Hedge didn't seem like the type to just leave it lying around. She imagined a five foot tall grouchy man going to sleep in a nightcap with his megaphone under his pillow, and Leo descending from the ceiling like Mexican Spiderman. The thought was so ridiculous it almost made her smile. Still, Leo would have to be pretty fast and good with technology too. That could come in handy later, Reyna thought, though how she didn't know.

Piper however was harder to categorize. Other then stealing a BMW and being a better friend then Leo was boyfriend she didn't have much information. That meant she had an advantage. Reyna didn't like that.

Yet, Reyna could already feel some sort of affection for her. Probably just because she'd believed her about the amnesia, Reyna told herself. Someone with an advantage over you and your affection was defiantly someone to look out for.

"She's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."

Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Reyna by whacking her upside the head."

The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at Reyna and scowl.

"Leo, Reyna needs help," Piper insisted. "She's got a concussion or—"

"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. The new guy wedged himself between Reyna and Piper and knocked Leo down. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

The new guy had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: do not stare directly at teeth. permanent blindness may occur. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans and boots, and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. Reyna hated him instantly.

"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, _911_.

Leo got up and brushed himself off. "I hate that guy." He offered Reyna his arm, like they should go skipping inside together. "'I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!'"

"Leo," Reyna said, "you're really weird, you know that?"

"Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!"

Reyna figured that if this was her boyfriend, her life must be pretty messed up.

For a second she felt a red hot Rage in her stomach. She was mad at Dylan for being a jerk. She was mad at Leo for not taking things seriously. Even at stupid Coach Hedge and his stupid megaphone and his stupid scowls. She was mad at everything and everyone. But mostly, she was mad at herself. She was mad because she was helpless and scared and weak. These were all things, Reyna knew, she must never be. For a second she was so consumed in her Rage she couldn't see straight.

But as quickly as it had come, her Rage left her. And she followed Leo into the museum.

They walked through the building, stopping every now and again for Coach Hedge to lecture them with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a Sith Lord or blared out random comments like "The pig says oink."

Leo kept pulling out nuts, bolts, and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together, like he had to keep his hands busy at all times.

Reyna wished he'd keep still. Amnesia or no the exhibits were interesting. They were about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, which owned the museum.

Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan and snickering. Reyna figured these girls were the popular clique. They wore matching jeans and pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.

One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

The other girls laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but Reyna got the feeling she was clenching her fists.

Reyna felt ready to punch them herself. She might not remember Piper, or even who she was, but she knew she hated mean kids.

"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "Oh, sorry! Was your _mom_ in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."

Piper charged her, but before a fight could start, Reyna stepped in. She placed her hand in front of Piper like a safety bar. For the first time she noticed something pressed up against her calf inside her boot. Something that felt large and very pointy

"That's enough, Isabel." She said evenly "Piper's family is none of your concern."

Isabel smiled with enough false sweetness to kill a dingo. "Just like how this conversation is none of yours."

"You insult my friend and you make it my business." Reyna replied "Now step off."

Isabel crossed her arms triumphantly "Oh, so when the going gets rough you're just going to hide behind your body guard, huh Piper? I see how it is. What'd you pay her in? Eagle cravings?"

Her friends laughed like that was somehow funny. Piper opened her mouth to retort but before she could Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"

The group shuffled on to the next exhibit, but before Reyna could follow Piper pulled her aside.

"What was that?" She demanded

"I defended you?" Reyna raised an eyebrow

"I had it under control!"

"You were about to give her two black eyes to spare her need for make up the next few days. You call that under control?"

Piper's mouth fell open "H-How did you know-?" She shook her head "Look I don't need a body guard. I can take care of myself, alright?"

"I never said you couldn't. I just—"

Before she could finish, Leo called from the doorway "Yo! You guys coming?"

Reyna and Piper glared at each other for a second, then Piper pushed past her to the next room.

"What was that about?" Reyna whispered to Leo while they were still out of earshot from the group

Leo shrugged. "Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Don't let it get to you. If those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"

"Why? What about her dad?"

Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your best friend's dad—"

"Gee, it's almost like I've been saying that all morning!" she snapped

Leo held his hands up, palms out. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? But you really can't blame me for being skeptical. We'll talk when we get back to the dorm, okay?"

Reyna felt her frustration melt away. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad. She smiled.

"Thanks." She whispered

They reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace.

"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."

The coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.

"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."

Reyna had to agree. Despite her amnesia and her feeling that she was in danger, she couldn't help being impressed. She felt her face split open in a stupidly-big grin at the view.

The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Reyna could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.

Reyna got a piercing pain behind his eyes. _Crazy gods_ ... Where had she come up with that idea? She felt like he'd gotten close to something important—something she should know about.

"You all right?" Leo asked. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should've brought my camera."

Reyna grabbed the railing. She was shivering and sweaty, but it had nothing to do with heights. She blinked, and the pain behind her eyes subsided.

"Yeah, yeah it's fine," she managed. "Just a headache."

Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind swept over Reyna but for once it didn't seem it bother her. She felt a somehow comforting sensation of cool air whipping through her hair, under her clothes, completely enveloping her in a feeling like freedom. She resisted the urge to start whooping like an idiot. That stupidly-big grin popped back up again.

"This is awesome." She told Leo

Leo didn't look so convinced. He squinted up at the clouds "This can't be safe. Storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"

Reyna looked up and saw Leo was right. A dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was perfectly clear. Reyna had a bad feeling about that but tried to shake it off.

"What's the worst that could happen? You scared of a few odd clouds Valdez?"

But even as she said that, she knew something was wrong. Something inside her was screaming for her to grab Leo and Piper and get out of there. But even if she could somehow convince them to come how would they leave? Where would they go?

_'It had to be a desert.' _She thought bitterly

"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"

The storm rumbled, and Reyna's head began to hurt again. Not sure why she did it, she reached into her bag and pulled out her hairbrush from earlier and studied it. It didn't look like anything special, that was for sure. It was made of wood with a well worn leather handle and more then a few bristles missing. But for some reason she felt she'd need it soon. But that was ridiculous, so she put it away.

Then she noticed the arrowhead around her neck again and studied that. She didn't know why but it seemed important to her. Then she noticed a hole at the tip of the arrowhead and realized it wasn't an arrowhead at all. It was some sort of wonky whistle, like the king hunters used to make duck calls. Half-heartedly, she put it in her mouth and blew. It was the strangest noise Reyna had ever heard but somehow it comforted her.

They didn't try very hard on the worksheet. For one thing, Reyna was too distracted by the view and her own mixed-up situation. For another thing, she really didn't care how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."

Leo was no help. He was too busy building a helicopter out of pipe cleaners. Reyna had to admit, the guy was good.

"Check it out." He launched the copter. Reyna thought it would plummet, but the pipe-cleaner blades actually spun. The little copter made it halfway across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiraled into the void.

"Impressive. How'd you do that?" Reyna asked.

Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."

"Would a hair tie work?" She said reaching for her braid. She was curious what Leo might be able to do with proper materials and enough time. But then a strong gust smacked the braid in her face "Maybe not." She said. Leo laughed.

"Seriously," Reyna said, resting her forearms on the railing "are we together?"

Leo went red again and Reyna immediately regretted asking. "Well, I mean, we never had the DTR talk or anything. But, well, the last few weeks—"

"Forget it." She cut him off

"With pleasure."

"It's just, I've got so many questions." Reyna said, "Where am I from? When's my birthday? What's so important about Piper's dad? When did we meet? What did we talk about?"

"It was …" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, dude. You can't expect me to remember details."

"But I don't remember you _at all_. I don't remember anyone here. What if—"

"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"

A little voice in Reyna's head said, _That's exactly what I think._

But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took her for granted. Everyone acted like she was a normal part of the class—except for Coach Hedge.

"Here." Reyna handed Leo the paper. "I'll be right back."

Before Leo could protest, Reyna headed across the skywalk.

Their school group had the place to themselves. Maybe it was too early in the day for tourists, or maybe the weird weather had scared them off. The Wilderness School kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile.

Reyna rolled her eyes and walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.

"Did you do this?" the coach asked him.

"Do what?" It sounded like the coach had just asked if she'd made the thunderstorm.

Coach Hedge glared at him, his beady little eyes glinting under the brim of his cap. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and why are you messing up my job?"

"You mean...you _don't_ know me?" Reyna said. "I'm not one of your students?"

Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today. You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So—who are you, and where'd you come from?"

Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but Reyna was so relieved she almost wanted to cry. At least she wasn't going insane. She _was_ in the wrong place.

"I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."

Coach Hedge studied her face like he was trying to read Reyna's thoughts.

"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."

"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"

Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Reyna wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.

"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know _what_ you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.

"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then _you_ pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"

The pain behind Reyna's eyes got worse than ever. _Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters._ She still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words gave her a massive brain freeze—like her mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.

She stumbled, and Coach Hedge caught her. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."

"What director?" Reyna said. "What camp?"

"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Reyna shouted over the wind.

"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"

**T****HE STORM CHURNED INTO A MINIATURE HURRICANE.** Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish.

Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. Reyna felt glad her over-the-shoulder bag stayed on. Then skidded across the slick floor.

Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, but Reyna grabbed his jacket and pulled him back.

"Thanks, man!" Leo yelled.

"You're not getting away that easy." She said softly

"What!" he yelled over the wind

"Go, go, go!" said Coach Hedge.

Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. Piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildly, her dark hair all in her face. Reyna thought she must've been freezing, but she looked calm and confident—telling the others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.

Reyna, Leo, and Coach Hedge ran toward them, but it was like running through quicksand. The wind seemed to fight them, pushing them back.

Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.

Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.

"Sorry, Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."

He flicked his wrist, and Piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.

"Piper!" Reyna tried to charge forward, but the wind was against her, and Coach Hedge pushed her back.

"What are you doing?" Reyna said, "Let me help her!"

"Reyna, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."

"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"

The coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps—like the knots cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat—but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. Somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.

Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, _Coach_. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. You think you can protect three half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."

Dylan pointed at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow he managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

Momentary horror hit Reyna like a cold bucket of water. Then all at once she felt her Rage from earlier flood her gut, stronger then ever. She didn't know how, but she'd see to it Dylan paid for that.

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Reyna his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that _thing_ busy"—he stabbed a thumb at Dylan—"while I get Leo."

Some tiny voice in Reyna's head wondered how. The rest just didn't care. She gripped the tree branch and gritted her teeth.

Hedge kicked off his shoes, and Reyna saw what he meant. The coach didn't have any feet. He had hooves—goat's hooves. Which meant those things on his head, Reyna realized, weren't bumps. They were horns.

"You're a faun," Reyna said.

_"Satyr!"_ Hedge snapped. "Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later."

Hedge leaped over the railing. He sailed toward the canyon wall and hit hooves first. He bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tried to attack him as he picked his way toward Leo.

The tiny voice in Reyna's held told her she should be freaking out. If anything, the level that she didn't care that the coach was half goat was more surprising that the fact itself. Right then, all Reyna cared about was the battle at hand. She could be freaked out later.

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned toward Reyna. "Now it's your turn, girlie."

Reyna threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him on the head so hard he fell to his knees. That gave Reyna the distraction she needed, the winds lightened and she charged.

Out of the corner of her eye, Reyna saw Piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood—_golden_ blood—trickled from his forehead.

"Nice try, girlie." He glared at Reyna. "But you'll have to do better."

The skywalk shuddered. Hairline fractures appeared in the glass. Inside the museum, kids stopped banging on the doors. They backed away, watching in terror.

Reyna didn't even slow down. Once she got close enough she jumped into the air and flipped mid-jump and came down ready for a drop kick.

But Dylan's body dissolved into smoke, as if his molecules were coming unglued and Reyna sailed right through him. Acting on instinct, she pulled into a ball and ended up somersaulting gently onto the Skywalk and came up kneeling. When she looked up Dylan had the same face, the same brilliant white smile, but his whole form was suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a living storm cloud. He sprouted black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk. If angels could be evil, Reyna decided, they would look exactly like this.

"You're a _ventus_," Reyna said, though he had no idea how he knew that word. "A storm spirit."

Dylan's laugh sounded like a tornado tearing off a roof. "I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo and Piper I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a third was coming—someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

Two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of Dylan and turned into _venti_—ghostly young men with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning.

Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Reyna a determined look, and he understood the message: _Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind._

Reyna wished she remembered having this girl as a best friend. She reached into her bad and pulled out her hairbrush, on instinct she gave it a hard flick and the head flew off to the wind. Revealing a long, golden, blade about the length of her hand.

She clenched got ready to charge, but never got a chance.

Dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted at Reyna. She tried to jump again and dodge the blast. It worked except she ended up throwing herself to the winds and was thrown up against the glass doors none too gently. Reyna saw the kids backup up hastily in horror of her smashed face against the glass. Then fell hardly onto the Skywalk, dazed with pain.

The storm spirits were laughing. The winds raged. Piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tinny and far away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Reyna saw Coach Hedge climbing the cliff with Leo on his back. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra storm spirits, but they were just toying with her. The club went right through their bodies like they weren't there.

_'No.' _Reyna thought defiantly. Her friends were in trouble and she had to protect them. She rose to her knees, fortunately the Venti hadn't noticed her and that gave her a chance to think. She reached into her boot and pulled out the long, pointy something. At first she thought it was another golden knife, but this was too clunky and poorly balanced for that. Then she noticed the handle was hollow and got an idea. Next to her were some flagpoles which hadn't been blown away as they were bolted down. Reyna sliced one free, her golden blade cutting through steel like hot butter, and slammed the hallow end to one end of the pole. Metal teeth jutted out and latched on. This wasn't a knife, it was a spear head.

Holding her make-shift spear in her hands, Reyna felt near invincible. Like she could take on the world. She stuck her knife in her belt loop and rose to her feet.

"Yo Sparky!" She screamed "That all you got?"

Dylan snarled and backed up in surprise. He looked at his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill her!"

The other storm spirits didn't look happy with that order, but they flew at Reyna, their fingers crackling with electricity.

Reyna swung at the first spirit. Her blade passed through it, and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Reyna bended backward and dodged the attack. No way was she jumping again. She stepped in—one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder.

Dylan wailed in outrage. He looked down as if expecting his comrades to re-form, but their gold dust remains dispersed in the wind. "Impossible! Who _are_ you, half-blood?"

Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Reyna, how … ?"

"Well that was anti-climatic." Reyna said stupidly

Then Coach Hedge leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour.

"Spirits, fear me!" Hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.

"Curse it, girl!" he snapped at Reyna. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, his hands bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are—I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"

"If someone calls me girl one more time—" Reyna started but then Dylan hissed at them, but Reyna could see fear in his eyes.

"You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy _all_ demigods. This war you _cannot_ win."

Above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. Cracks expanded in the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down, and Reyna had to crouch to keep her balance.

A hole opened in the clouds—a swirling vortex of black and silver.

"The mistress calls me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, will come with me!"

He lunged at Reyna, but Piper tackled the monster from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper somehow managed to connect. Both of them went sprawling. Leo, Reyna, and the coach surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a torrent that knocked them all backward. Reyna and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Reyna's spear fell out of her grip and skidded across the glass. Leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. Piper got the worst of it. She was thrown off Dylan's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss.

Reyna started toward her, but Dylan screamed, "I'll settle for this one!"

He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious Leo below him. The storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.

"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody!"

Then she slipped, screaming as she fell.

"No!" Reyna screamed, she tried to sommon her anger but her strength had abandoned her.

"Reyna, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"

The coach launched himself at the spirit with some serious goat fu—lashing out with his hooves, knocking Leo free from the spirit's grasp. Leo dropped safely to the floor, but Dylan grappled the coach's arms instead. Hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him a cupcake. They rose into the air, gaining speed.

Coach Hedge shouted down once more, "Save her! I got this!" Then the satyr and the storm spirit spiraled into the clouds and disappeared.

_Save her?_ Reyna thought. _She's gone!_

But again her instincts won. She ran to the railing, thinking, _I'm a lunatic,_ and jumped over the side.

Reyna wasn't scared of heights. She was scared of being smashed against the canyon floor five hundred feet below. In a heartbeat, she caught up with Piper, who was flailing wildly. She tackled her waist and closed her eyes, waiting for death. Piper screamed. The wind whistled in Reyna's ears. She wondered what dying would feel like. She was thinking, probably not so good.

_'Okay' _She though somewhere in there _'Maybe Wolverine doesn't have it so bad. At least he can heal. Course, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.'_

Suddenly there was a hard pain between her legs and on her butt and the winds died down. Piper's scream turned into a strangled gasp. Reyna thought they must be dead, but she hadn't felt any impact.

"R-R-Reyna," Piper managed.

She opened his eyes. They weren't falling. They were sitting on a beautiful winged horse the color of peanut butter. A Pegasus.

"What?" Reyna gasped. She didn't understand what a Pegasus would be doing saving some falling teenagers, or what it would be doing so close to such a crazy storm. Why didn't it fly away? Then she saw a gold plate on the sattle that read _Scipio _and something clicked together in her brain.

"Scipio." She said out loud, liking how it tasted on her tongue.

Scipio whined happily, she imagined him saying something like _'Hey Rey, good to see you too! Where you been?'_

Reyna felt that stupid-big grin spread on her face again "You came because I called you, didn't you? With that whistle? Through that freak storm and everything? Oh, you crazy animal!"

Scipio snorted distastefully.

"Uh, Reyna," Piper said "Can we get out of here now? Please?"

"Sure thing, Pipes." Reyna said with a mischievous smile "You might want to hold onto me, I don't think he's one for taking it easy. Nor am I, really."

Feeling Pipers arms squeeze a little to tight around her waist, Reyna slid forward in the sattle and griped the reigns. She kicked the horse in the side and with a beat of Scipio's mighty wings, they were flying up almost as fast as they had fallen down.

There was no guarantee the spirits were gone for good. She had no idea what had happened to Coach Hedge. And she'd left Leo up there, barely conscious. But despite that Reyna felt incredible. She felt Scipio's soft mane tickle her face and let out a whoop for joy that was lost to the winds.

As soon as they landed on the skywalk, Scipio trotted over to Leo. Piper dismounted and turned him over, and he groaned. Reyna felt a massive wave of guilt hit her in the gut. Leo's army coat was soaked from the rain. His curly hair glittered gold from rolling around in monster dust. But at least he wasn't dead.

"Stupid … ugly … goat," he muttered.

"Where did he go?" Piper asked.

Leo pointed straight up. "Never came down. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life."

"Twice," Reyna said.

Leo groaned even louder. "What happened? The tornado guy, the, uh, please tell me that's not a winged horse… I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"

Reyna dismounted Scipio, retrieved her spear and hairbrush head and slid it back onto the knife like a scabbard. She pulled on the spear head on a whim and it slid off easily.

"Let me see your hands." She told Leo. He obeyed and she saw they were torn and bloody from the fall like she'd imagined. Reyna reached into her bag and pulled out her water bottle and poured the water bottle and poured a little on his hands. Instantly the cuts started to close up and soon they were little more then scratches. **(AN: Seriously, how the hell we're supposed to swallow that Leo somehow slid down the face of the Grand Canyon for several feet before finding a tiny handhold only big enough for is fingertips, yet somehow didn't get and major cuts, scrapes and bleeding is ridiculous. If you want to tell me he either heals fast or is somehow protected due to his demigod nature, I will kindly remind you that Hazel got her hands badly scraped up after just tripping on an unpaved road and had to be treated with nectar just like this. I know it's a children's serious but you can't just ignore stuff that happened Rick.)**

"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating."

Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Reyna, those things—"

_"Venti,"_ he said. "Storm spirits."

"Okay. You acted like … like you'd seen them before. And what was with those crazy acrobatics? Who _are_ you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Your kidding right. I've been trying to tell you all day! I. Don't. Know."

Scipio was suddenly next to her and nuzzeled the crook of her neck in a comforting gesture. She had to laugh.

"Hey there big guy." She said, stroking his nose "Thanks for saving us out there. You did great."

Scipio whinned in content and Reyna felt a great rush of love for the animal. She fed him a couple handfuls of jellybeans as a reward. Which he downed the way other horses might enjoy sugarcubes.

The storm dissipated. The other kids from the Wilderness School were staring out the glass doors in horror. Security guards were working on the locks now, but they didn't seem to be having any luck.

"Coach Hedge said he had to protect three people," Reyna remembered. "I think he meant us."

"And that thing Dylan turned into …" Piper shuddered. "God, I can't believe it was _hitting_ on me. He called us... what, _demigods_?"

Leo lay on his back, staring at the sky. He didn't seem anxious to get up. "Don't know what _demi_ means," he said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"

There was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.

"We need to get off this thing," Reyna said. "Maybe Scipio could—No, three people at once is a bad idea."

But just then Scipio let out a frightened neigh and galloped away. He stopped and looked back sadly at Reyna at the edge of the Skywalk, like he was trying to say sorry, and then he leapt into the sky and flew off. Three people at once was a bad idea. But apparently no people at all was just perfect because he flew away so fast he looked like nothing but a peanut butter colored blur.

Reyna reached for her whistle, but somehow she knew it'd do no good. She had a feeling she wouldn't be seeing Scipio again for along time. Suddenly she felt more alone then ever.

She didn't have long to dwell on that though because just then there was a loud THUD noise and Reyna saw a pair of Pegasus's, three gray and one black, land on the Skywalk. And they were pulling a brightly painted box with two wheels: a chariot.

"Friends of your?" Leo asked her

"Reinforcements," she said. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."

"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. "That sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us _to_?" Piper asked.

Reyna watched as the chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk. The Pegasus's tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. Two teenagers stood in the chariot—a tall tan boy with black hair maybe and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The boy leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. He pulled out a pen and ran toward Reyna's group, which seemed a little ridiculous until he uncapped it and the pen transformed into a while the bulky dude was reining in the horses.

"Where is she?" the boy demanded. Up close Reyna felt her chest tighten and a jolt travel down her spine when she looked at him. His face, his sea-green eyes, his voice, it was all struck terror into her. She knew she'd met this guy before. And she was sure it'd been on bad terms.

"Where's who?" Piper asked.

He frowned like this answer was unacceptable. Then he turned to Leo and Piper. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

The coach's first name was Gleeson? Reyna might've laughed if the this dude hadn't been quite so weirdly scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?

Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some … tornado things."

_"Venti,"_ Reyna said. "Storm spirits. And that's all we're saying."

"Huh?" Leo raised an eyebrow "I thought you said-."

Before he could go on Reyna whipped out her knife, flicked off the scabbard, and held it to the boys throat.

"Who are you?" Reyna demanded "What do you want with us? How do I know you?"

"What?" If this guy found the knife at his throat concerning, he didn't show it.

"I've got amnesia. Can't remember anything about who I am or my past. But I know you. And I know I don't like you. So I'll ask you again; how do I know you?" she dug the knife a little deeper.

The boy looked more frustrated then scared. He looked her straight in the eye "Look, I don't know who you are. I've never seen you before. I can't help you."

"Well, we _can" _The Bald guy said "Just not with your memory problem."

"What do you mean?" Reyna said, not breaking eye contact with the first boy

The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.

"We gotta leave. Percy let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."

Percy looked her dead in the eye and Reyna realized they were being offered a deal. Come with them and maybe get some answers, or stall and doom them.

She fumed for a moment. "Fine." She fixed Percy with a resentful look and took her knife away. "We'll settle this later."

She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.


End file.
